Cruel and Unusual
- Published
- 1 January 1993
- Pages
- 356
- ISBN-13
- 9780684195308
- Type
- novel
About this book
Cruel and Unusual is a novel by Patricia Cornwell, in 1993 at 356 pages. It sits at #4 in Kay Scarpetta's reading order. All That Remains comes before it, The Body Farm after.
Key facts about Cruel and Unusual
Patricia Cornwell wrote Cruel and Unusual, a novel on our list. It has been out since 1 January 1993. The book has 356 pages.
We list 1 edition of this novel. Since each edition has its own ISBN, search for 9780684195308 to find the main one.
Cruel and Unusual is book 4 of 29 in the Kay Scarpetta series. The series has 29 published books. However, the series starts with Postmortem (1990).
Sharp Force is the latest book in the series with a full release date, out on 7 October 2025. Meanwhile, Rapid and Fatal comes next, with an announced date of 19 January 2027.
Additionally, Patricia Cornwell writes Andy Brazil, Win Garano and Captain Chase as separate series. Those series sit on our thriller and techno-thriller shelves. Meanwhile, Sharp Force is the latest published Patricia Cornwell book on file, from 7 October 2025.
About Patricia Cornwell
Patricia Cornwell is credited with essentially inventing the modern forensic thriller. Born in 1956 and educated at Davidson College, she worked as a police reporter at the Charlotte Observer before spending six years as a technical writer and computer analyst inside the Chief Medical Examiner's office in Richmond, Virginia, sitting in on autopsies and absorbing real forensic procedure years before it was standard genre furniture. See every Patricia Cornwell book in order.
Its place in Kay Scarpetta
Cruel and Unusual is book 4 in the Kay Scarpetta series. It follows All That Remains. It is followed by The Body Farm. See the full Kay Scarpetta reading order.
Kay Scarpetta is the Chief Medical Examiner of Virginia (and, later, a federal forensic investigator and private consultant) whose autopsy table is where every case really begins. Patricia Cornwell's series is credited with popularising the modern forensic-procedural: DNA evidence, trace analysis and autopsy detail that were startlingly technical for genre fiction in 1990 and remain a core selling point today. Scarpetta investigates alongside her homicide-detective niece-in-all-but-name-later-partner Pete Marino…
Editions
- edition · unknown publisher · — · ISBN 9780684195308